Genre Swing music | Years active 1935-1940s | |
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Similar International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Ada Leonard, Anna Mae Winburn, The Ingenues, Ina Ray Hutton | ||
Harlem Playgirls was an African American swing band active in the Midwest and throughout the United States from the mid-1930s to the early 1940s.
History
Organized by Milwaukee-based drummer & band leader Sylvester Rice (1905–1984) in 1935 and drawing from members of the popular Dixie Sweethearts, the group toured TOBA circuits, performing in picture houses, jazz clubs, ballrooms and variety theatres. In the tradition of prior all-girl bands led by musical theater stars, headliners Eddie Crump and Baby Briscoe both led the band as dancing, singing front women. Briscoe had gained prominence in New Orleans and had worked with Lil Hardin Armstrong’s all-girl band and Joe Robichaux and his Rhythm Boys. Trombonist Lela Julius and saxophonist Vi Burnside were two of the group’s leading soloists. The group appeared at the Apollo Theater in New York City in 1937 and competed in the prestigious battle of the bands contest at Chicago’s Savoy ballroom against Johnny Long’s group in 1938. Many members later went on to perform with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm and the Prairie View Co-eds.